Kid friendly adventures close to and far from home

Cubicle Chronicles, Volume 3

Unremarkable is generally how I would describe the scenery around the office. Devoid of personality? Maybe that’s more like it. They renovated last year, and in an effort to make the place more professional (or something like that), they sucked the life out of what could be a really neat, character-filled old mill building. Now we are surrounded by white walls (and one accent wall, because evidently accent walls are the avocado green appliances of the 2010’s), the once exposed brick has been plastered over, and the hallways feel…homogenous. The view out the windows changes with the seasons, but other than that…it’s a sterile world in here.

As things tend to do in sterile places, everything sort of fades into the background. Everything except for one plant, I’ve recently realized. On my wander from the back door to the cubicle, I pass a file cabinet (empty, abandoned), and on top of that file cabinet is a Christmas cactus. It used to be vibrant, that I recall. Now? Slowly croaking.

The man who cared for it was laid off recently. It’s unfortunate on a number of levels, because the man who cared for it was also the soul of the office, but that’s an entire other story for another time. Or not. Probably best not. Keep my nose clean. Who knows, who cares?

Anyways, the croaking Christmas cactus – I adopted it today! I took it from its home in the back hallway, toted it to my desk, and sat it right in the sunshine on my shelf. I offered it some water (it said thanks), and now there it sits…

I like to think it’s happy, but that’s probably giving the cactus more credit than it is due. If nothing more, it is not forgotten…and, in fact, it’s a rather welcome new addition to my corner of the office (which is quite different from the corner office, mind you).